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BMW M3: an E30 dream becomes reality

18 November, 2015

Most of us can remember when we first became passionate about cars — and certain makes at that. For me, I remember getting a ride as a 10-year-old in a Subaru WRX rally car. I’ll never forget being strapped into that bucket seat, and getting airborne over a local speed bump just near my house, narrowly missing a wandering dog upon landing. Another vivid memory around the same time was a ride in an ’80s Honda Prelude Si, with a DOHC 16-valve two-litre. I will never forget the howl that the factory two-litre motor produced near redline — cementing my passion for the H badge for years to come.

For Gabor Mester, he fell in love with cars whilst at a family friend’s place where he stumbled into a BMW M3 E30 in their garage. Throughout his teens he would go over and offer to wash and clean the vehicle for the owners, just to be around its bulbous ’80s curves. Fast forward a few years, Gabor now owns that particular vehicle — and after seven years of ownership, the passion continues to grow.

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.